Why do graduates escape working in village schools?

Most of students come from villages in order to study at Universities. Their first impression in city would be fast developed technologies and great opportunities to have career and apply for various positions. In comparison, there is huge difference between urban and rural students in accordance with professionalism (Eshpanova et al., 2009). Therefore, rural youth would stay in the city and develop their self-realization. But to what extent graduates are ready to abandon the city and go to village in order to make any social contribution? Rural areas suffer from young educated, professional and open mind specialists. Therefore, there is a governmental programme is called “With the diploma – to the village” with package of free accommodation, increment 25 % of salary which is more than salaries of urban teachers, also there is one-time incentive about 120 000 tenge to attract young professionals. However, I have been witness of most of my relatives and friends who tried to work via this programme but after few years they gave up working in isolation environment and had return money they have gotten from government, went back to city. What is the reason of breaking away from village? Maybe there is real isolation with no social activities in the village? Maybe they give up realizing their ideas because of poor conditions? Or they just aim to get free incentives… that’s uncovered question. One day, conditions of village schools will achieve the high standard, but would there be young professionals who are used to live in the comfort of city life…??? But there is something bigger than unwanted action of young specialists to be eager to work in village schools. Where is the spirit of compassion to make improvements to village education? I would like to stop here with lovely words of Jason Mraz`s song: “If you do it right, you`ll love where you are”.(there is a link for that song

). You are welcome to share your ideas… References Eshpanova, D. D., Aitbai, K. O., & Aidarbekov, Z. S. (2009). Problems of the social development of the young people of Kazakhstan. Russian Education & Society, 51(5), 63-80.Yeah, I am gonna work in village school!!!!

2 thoughts on “Why do graduates escape working in village schools?”

Knowing your professional background, in the beginning I was a bit surprised to know you were the author of this post… But then I remembered about your roots, and everything fell into right place.
Your post touches upon the most critical issue of education in Kazakhstan – inequality. This phenomenon can be measured by uneven access of rural students to resources, facilities, transportation and qualified teachers. Many attempts to ameliorate the situation mentioned in the post were aimed at recruiting more competitive teaching cadre in the rural regions of the country. The policy makers managed to temporarily attract “fresh blood” to the villages, but failed to retain the brightest and most capable over time. This probably suggests the real provided conditions did not correspond to the declared. It is not surprising, though, many teachers opted to either go back to the cities or reject the suggested posts in the beginning.
I have nothing to say to judge them. I can provide a personal example of my SDU classmate, who was supposed to go back to her own village after the graduation. Unfortunately, she preferred to violate the rules and pay the fine rather than come back from Almaty to the southern auyil. Perhaps, one of the reasons was her age and unwillingness to say goodbye to the big city. “You can throw a stone at me,” she said, – “but I would go there if only I was suggested a salary times higher than the national wage average in Almaty…”
Do not judge her and such students strictly, @zhuldyzkhozhabayeva! Probably the conditions able to attract and retain young professionals have not been created yet.

Considering the topic of why graduates escape working in rural schools, we can identify some reasons for it. Firstly, the contingent of children studying in rural schools differs from children studying in urban ones. Children living and studying in cities are more goals – oriented, advanced, open – minded and creative. The teaching process is mutual: teachers give knowledge to students, and get some new information from students. Schools focus on student – centered learning. While in rural schools, teacher – centered learning method is used most. Such notions as critical and analytical thinking are less developed among students in rural schools than in urban ones. Secondly, schools in urban areas are more well – equipped with new technologies, and audio and visual aids: computers, interactive boards etc. While in rural schools, there are children who still do not know how to use a computer. In urban areas, schools are best provided with good resources: books, magazines, articles necessary for developing students’ knowledge. In rural areas, most schools cannot provide these because they are needed much money. One more reason is that salary of teachers in urban areas is higher than in rural ones. Therefore, teachers are not motivated to work in rural schools. These and many other reasons cause teachers’ unwillingness to work in schools in rural areas.